Broccoli Tofu Stir-Fry

On Friday night I made a broccoli and tofu stir-fry for dinner.  This was my first experience with stir-frying as well as with tofu, and I was quite impressed with both.  I really enjoyed both the taste and the texture of the tofu in this dish.  The preparation part of the recipe took me a while, because I'm a very meticulous slicer/dicer/chopper/measurer, but the stir-frying part went very quickly and smoothly.  I would definitely make this recipe again, because everyone enjoyed it (I doubled the recipe, and the six of us demolished every last bit of it) and it was so simple to put together.  If you used pre-cut broccoli florets, the preparation would be even easier.  I didn't measure my broccoli for this recipe.  Since I doubled it, I should have used four cups, but I just cut up three broccoli crowns and called it a night.  My family loves broccoli, so it wasn't an issue if there was a bit too much, and the doubled amount of sauce perfectly coated all of the tofu and broccoli.  The only thing I did not double in the recipe was the amount of water added to the pan with the broccoli and garlic--my mom said it was just to steam the vegetables and it wasn't necessary to add twice as much water.

My apologies for the lack of pictures; it was a very late night, everyone was hungry, and I completely forgot to grab the camera when it was all finished.

TASTE:  I had never cooked with oyster sauce before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I think the oyster sauce really made this dish amazing.  It has a slightly briny flavor that really added something special to the stir-fry.  The sesame oil also gave the stir-fry that characteristic Asian flavor.  I absolutely loved the flavor of the sauce and I think it went perfectly with the tofu and broccoli.

TEXTURE/APPEARANCE:  My little brother loved the tofu, and he said that it had the same texture of scallops.  I thought the texture was similar to that of scrambled eggs, and the flavor was much more pleasing to me than I had expected.  The sauce evenly coated the bright green broccoli and golden-brown cubes of tofu, giving everything a delicious dark brown sheen.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS/NOTES:  As this was my first time working with tofu, I looked online for instructions on how to drain it.  I sort of combined all the ways of draining it I could find.  First, I placed a block of tofu on a large dinner plate.  Then I folded up a piece of paper towel, placed it on top of the tofu, and placed another dinner plate on top.  I repeated this process for the other block of tofu, since I doubled the recipe.  I was going to use two large cans of tomatoes to weigh each plate down, but they wouldn't fit on our dinner plates, so my dad once again came to my rescue and brought out two 2-pound weights from my mom's adjustable dumbbells.  I used one 2-pound weight for each block of tofu.  I let the tofu sit and drain for a little more than an hour before I cut it into half-inch cubes, and it held together fine, but I think if I'd had time to let it drain longer (maybe two hours?) it would have been less fragile.  I recommend draining your tofu for at least an hour before cutting it up.  Just be sure that you don't put too much weight on the top plate--you don't want to squash your tofu to death!


Broccoli-Tofu Stir-Fry
Adapted from Cooking Light, December 2001; Accessed at MyRecipes.com: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/broccoli-tofu-stir-fry-10000000356664/

Ingredients:
3 cups instant brown rice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup oyster sauce
5 teaspoons cornstarch
4 teaspoons rice vinegar
4 teaspoons sesame oil
2-3 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 pounds firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 broccoli crowns, cut into florets
3/4 cup water
3-4 tablespoons minced garlic

Instructions:
Using a whisk, combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch, rice vinegar, and sesame oil in a small bowl and set aside.

Prepare the rice according the the package directions.

In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat the vegetable oil.  Add the tofu cubes to the pan, sprinkle with salt, and cook, tossing frequently, for 8-10 minutes, until the tofu cubes are golden brown.  Remove the tofu from the pan and keep warm.  Add the broccoli, water, and garlic to the pan.  Cover the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 4-6 minutes.  Uncover the pan and add the sauce mixture and tofu.  Stir gently to coat.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens.  Serve the stir-fry over the rice.

Serves 6.